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After a one-day respite, we're back with more offensive linemen. I know, you couldn't friggin wait.
Today, that offensive lineman is Adam DePietro, a 6'5, 270-pounder that at least one scouting service was worth a fourth star. (Well, one scouting service.) He actually has a chance to compete for a starting spot in his redshirt freshman season, so let's read up on him, y'all!
Origin myth
DePietro hails from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he presumably had to ride horse-and-buggies to practice in unwieldy buckled football uniforms. He played offensive tackle for Lancaster Catholic, and, um, kind of dominated: his squad were two-time state champions (in a 2A classification), a two-time all-state selection and was named league player of the year, league offensive lineman of the year, and league defensive lineman of the year his senior year. Dude has a big mantle. Here's his highlights:
BOOSH.
And him after winning state champs as a senior:
was considered a three-star tackle by most services. But in this case the random "Scout picks a different positionality and star rating for pretty much every player" paradox worked out: they gave DePietro four stars and pegged him as a guard, the No. 10 player at the position in the country. 247's composite considered him the No. 20 player in Pennsylvania, and he got hisself a pretty impressive offer sheet: From the B1G, Michigan State and Illinois, from elsewhere, Vandy, BC, Rutgers, NC State, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and West Virginia. He had been waiting on an offer from Wisconsin, but coordinated with fellow NU offensive line target Eric Olson and decided they'd announce their commitment to Pat Fitzgerald together.
At Northwestern
He redshirted as a freshman. THEY ALL REDSHIRT AS FRESHMEN! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU THIS, DUDE?
Anagram of choice
Discovering the Wildcat's true inner selves through spelling
Adam DePietro, anagrammed, is
[null set]
Surprised at this one. Seems like there's a good enough amount of vowels and stuff. On the plus side, his name means "ADAM OF STONE" in Italian, which is Stalin-esque and awesome.
Relevant musical selection
"NaNa", Chance the Rapper ft. Action Bronson
I couldn't come up with anything for "Adam DePietro," so here's just a reminder you should be listening to Chance the Rapper, who was my musical selection for Chance Carter as well. Chicago!
How he can help
DePietro turned out not to have the size to transition to college tackle. And that's perfectly fine: With Brian Mulroe and Neal Deiters graduated, Northwestern has a pair of openings there, and the majority of the top offensive line recruits the Wildcats have landed in recent years have been best suited for the tackle spots. So that means DePietro, who had the strength, agility, and footwork to play outside in high school. Northwestern isn't afraid to play redshirt freshmen on the offensive line, and if DePietro shows the same skills that earned him lots of credit in high school, he should play this year and more going forward.
Depth chart projection
We have DePietro projected as a backup at right guard, but let's not take that too deeply to heart. There are basically three people competing for two starting jobs: DePietro, Geoff Mogus, and Matt Frazier. In spring practice, Frazier was hurt, so Mogus, a sophomore, started at left guard, while DePietro, a freshman, started at right.
That seems to indicate dude will get some playing time. The worst case scenario is that DePietro sees a lot of snaps as a backup this season and is ready to play in case of an injury. But he could very realistically compete for a starting gig in his first year playing for the Cats.